Talking Points Memo is reporting that West Virginia governor Joe Manchin will tap one Carte Goodwin, his former general counsel, to hold the late Robert Byrd’s Senate seat until the November election. Manchin “wants general election voters to decide who will serve the final two years of Byrd's term. The Legislature has begun a special session to consider a proposal from Manchin to allow for a fall vote,” according to T.P.M. The Associated Press confirmed the decision, but Manchin’s office did not, and would tell The Washington Post only that all would be revealed in a press conference today at two p.m. Goodwin hails from a prominent West Virginia family: his uncles founded the law firm Goodwin & Goodwin, which our Goodwin later joined. He attended Marietta College and Emory Law School, and specializes in litigation and intellectual-property law. He sounds qualified—Goodwin ’10!